Matthew 8
Christian Standard Bible
A Man Cleansed
8 When he came down from the mountain, large crowds(A) followed him. 2 Right away(B) a man with leprosy[a] came up and knelt before him,(C) saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone;(D) but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”(E)
A Centurion’s Faith
5 When he entered Capernaum,(F) a centurion came to him, pleading with him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”
7 He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”[b]
8 “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.(G) 9 For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command.[c] I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
10 Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith. 11 I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet[d] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.(H) 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”(I) 13 Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed,(J) let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.[e]
Healings at Capernaum
14 Jesus went into Peter’s house(K) and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him. 16 When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits(L) with a word and healed all who were sick,(M) 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
The Cost of Following Jesus
18 When Jesus saw a large crowd[g](O) around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. 19 A scribe approached him and said,(P) “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man(Q) has no place to lay his head.”
21 “Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Wind and Waves Obey Jesus
23 As he got into the boat,(R) his disciples(S) followed him. 24 Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. 25 So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”
26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea,(T) and there was a great calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey(U) him!”
Demons Driven Out by Jesus
28 When he had come to the other side,(V) to the region of the Gadarenes,[h] two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us,[i] Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (W)
30 A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 “If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”
32 “Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. 33 Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed. 34 At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.(X)
Footnotes
Matthew 8
The Voice
This teaching is different. Usually rabbis cite generations of rabbis before them when making claims about the meaning of Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus honors the law, but He is clear—the law must be read in a new way.
8 Large crowds followed Jesus when He came down from the mountain. 2 And as Jesus was going along, a leper approached Him and knelt down before Him.
Leper: Lord, if You wish to, please heal me and make me clean!
Jesus (stretching out His hand): 3 Of course I wish to. Be clean.
Immediately the man was healed.
Jesus: 4 Don’t tell anyone what just happened. Rather, go to the priest, show yourself to him, and give a wave offering as Moses commanded. Your actions will tell the story of what happened here today.
5 Eventually Jesus came to the little town of Capernaum. In Capernaum a military officer came to Him and asked Him for help.
Officer: 6 Lord, I have a servant who is lying at home in agony, paralyzed.
Jesus: 7 I will come to your house, and I will heal him.
Officer: 8 Lord, I don’t deserve to have You in my house. And, in truth, I know You don’t need to be with my servant to heal him. Just say the word, and he will be healed. 9 That, after all, is how authority works. My troops obey me whether I am next to them or not—similarly, this sickness will obey You.
10 Jesus was stunned by the depth of the officer’s faith.
Jesus (to His followers): This is the plain truth: I have not met a single person in Israel with as much faith as this officer. 11 It will not be just the children of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who celebrate at their heavenly banquet at the end of time. No, people will come from the East and the West—and those who recognize Me, regardless of their lineage, will sit with Me at that feast. 12 But those who have feigned their faith will be cast out into outer darkness where people weep and grind their teeth.
13 Then Jesus turned to the Centurion.[a]
Jesus: You may go home. For it is as you say it is; it is as you believe.
And the officer’s servant was healed, right then.
What happens next seems to embody the officer’s wise opinion about authority: over and over Jesus shows just what His authority means.
14 Jesus went to Peter’s house, and there He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed, sick and burning up with a fever. 15 Jesus touched her hand, and then she was healed—the fever vanished. She got up from bed and began to wait on Him.
16 Toward nighttime many people who were possessed by demons were brought to Jesus, and He said one word of command and drove the demons out, healing everyone who was sick. 17 These miraculous healings fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah had predicted:
He took our infirmities upon Himself,
and He bore our diseases.[b]
18 Jesus saw that a crowd had gathered around Him, and He gave orders to go to the other side of the sea. 19 A scribe came up to Him.
Scribe: Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.
Jesus: 20 Foxes have dens in which to sleep, and the birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.
Disciple: 21 Jesus, before I do the things You’ve asked me to do, I must first bury my father.
Jesus: 22 Follow Me! And let the dead bury their own dead.
Does Jesus say, “Fair enough, you must of course bury your father. Just catch up with Me when you are done”? No. This is one of the strange and radical things Jesus brings about—our families are no longer our families. Our deepest bonds are not those of blood. Our family now is found in the bonds of fellowship made possible by this Jesus.
23 And then Jesus got into a boat, and His disciples followed Him. 24 Out of nowhere, a vicious storm blew over the sea. Waves were lapping up over the boat, threatening to overtake it! Yet Jesus was asleep. 25 Frightened (not to mention confused—how could anyone sleep through this?), the disciples woke Him up.
Disciples: Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!
Jesus: 26 Please! What are you so afraid of, you of little faith?
Jesus got up, told the wind and the waves to calm down, and they did. The sea became still and calm once again. 27 The disciples were astonished.
Disciples: Who is this? What sort of man is He, that the sea and the winds listen to Him?
28 Eventually Jesus came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gadarenes. There, two men who lived near the tombs and were possessed by demons came out to the seaside and met Jesus. They were flailing about, so violent that they obstructed the path of anyone who came their way.
Demons (screaming at Jesus): 29 Why are You here? Have You come to torture us even before the judgment day, O Son of God?
30 A ways off, though still visible, was a large herd of pigs, eating.
Demons: 31 If You cast us out of the bodies of these two men, do send us into that herd of pigs!
Jesus: 32 Very well then, go!
And the demons flew out of the bodies of the two flailing men, they set upon the pigs, and every last pig rushed over a steep bank into the sea and drowned. 33 The pig herders (totally undone, as you can imagine) took off; they headed straight for town, where they told everyone what they’d just seen—even about the demon-possessed men. 34 And so the whole town came out to see Jesus for themselves. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their area.
Footnotes
- 8:13 A Roman military officer in charge of about 100 foot soldiers
- 8:17 Isaiah 53:4
Mattityahu 8
Orthodox Jewish Bible
8 And when Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach came down from the mountain, many multitudes followed him.
2 And an ish metzorah (a leper) there was who approached him and fell down before Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, saying, Adoneinu, if you choose, you can make me tahor (clean).
3 And, having stretched out his hand, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach touched him, saying, I am willing. Be made tahor.
4 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to him, See that you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the kohen and offer the korban about which Moshe gave mitzvah as an edut to them.
5 Now when Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach entered into Kfar-Nachum, a centurion approached him, begging him
6 and saying, Adoneinu, my servant has been bedridden in the house, paralyzed, in terrible tza’ar.
7 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to him, I am coming. I will bring him refuah (healing).
8 The centurion answered, Adoneinu, I am not worthy that you might come under my roof, but only say the dvar, and my servant will receive the refuah (healing).
9 For I also am a man under marut (authority), having soldiers subordinate to myself, and I say to this one, Go! And he goes, and to another, Come! And he comes, and to my servant, Do this! And he does it.
10 And having heard this, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was amazed and said to those who followed him, Omein, I say to you, in no one in Yisroel have I found such great emunah.
11 And I say to you, that many from the mizrach (east) and the maarav (west) will come and will sit bimesibba (reclining at tish) with Avraham and Yitzchak and Yaakov in the Malchut HaShomayim.
12 But the Bnei HaMalchut will be thrown out into the outer choshech (darkness), where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
13 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to the centurion, Go! According to your bitachon (trust), your emunah (faith), let it be for you. And his servant was given refuah (healing) punkt (exactly) at that hour.
14 When Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach entered the bais (house) of Kefa, he saw the chamot (mother-in-law, shviger) bedridden and fever stricken.
15 Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach touched her hand, and the fever left her. She then began functioning as his mesharetet (servant, lady minister), serving Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
16 And when erev (evening) had come, they brought to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach many possessed by shedim (evil spirits, demons), and he cast out the shedim with a dvar, and all the cholim (sick persons) he healed.
17 Thus was fulfilled what was spoken by Yeshayah the Navi, saying, ACHEN CHOLAYEINU HU NASA UMACHOVEINU SVALAM (Surely he took up our sicknesses and he carried away [T.N. like the Yom Kippur sa’ir l’Azazel scapegoat kapporah] our sorrows, YESHAYAH 53:4).
18 And when he saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
19 A sofer (scribe, Torah teacher) approached Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach and said, Rebbe, I will follow you wherever you go.
20 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to him, Foxes have holes and the OPH HASHOMAYIM (birds of heaven, IYOV 35:11) have nests, but the Ben HaAdam [Moshiach, DANIEL 7:13-14] does not have a place where he may lay his head.
21 And another of Moshiach’s talmidim said to him, Adoneinu, allow me first to go and bury my father.
22 But Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to him, Follow me, and permit the mesim (spiritually dead ones without hitkhadshut, spiritually unregenerate ones) to bury their own mesim (deceased ones, niftarim).
23 And when he embarked into the sirah, Moshiach’s talmidim followed him.
24 And hinei! a great storm came up on the lake, so that the sirah (boat) was about to be covered by the waves. But Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was sleeping.
25 And Moshiach’s talmidim approached and woke him, saying, Adoneinu, hoshieinu! We are perishing!
26 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to them, Why are you fearful, you ones of little emunah? Then, arising, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm.
27 And the men were astonished, saying, What sort of man is this!? That even the winds and the sea obey him!
28 And when Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach came to the other side of the lake, in the land of the people of Gadara, he was met by two men possessed by shedim (demons); these men were coming out of the kevarim (tombs) of the burial caves and were so dangerous no one could pass by on that road.
29 And they screamed, saying, Mah lanu valach, Ben HaElohim? (What to us and to you, Ben HaElohim? T.N. i.e., What business do you have with us, Ben HaElohim) Have you come here to torture us before the time [of the Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment]?
30 Now there was feeding far away from them a large herd of chazirim (swine).
31 And the shedim begged him, saying, If you cast us out, send us into the herd of chazirim.
32 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to them, Go away! So the shedim, coming out, went away into the chazirim. And, hinei, all the herd of chazirim rushed down the bank into the lake, and they perished in the water.
33 And the herdsmen of the chazirim fled, and, having gone away into the town, they told the whole story of what had happened to the men possessed by shedim.
34 And hinei! The whole town came out to meet Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. And seeing him, they begged him to depart from their area.
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